As teammates were scurrying in and out of the Mets’ clubhouse Friday for pregame workouts, Jose Reyes sat on a stool at his locker. His protégé, Amed Rosario, was sprawled out on the floor by Reyes’ feet, chatting with him in Spanish with breaks for laughter.

The two players were tight even before Rosario arrived from Triple-A Las Vegas last month for his major league debut, but now, they are virtually inseparable. And yet, the Mets’ shortstop of the present and future soon could be torn apart from his mentor.

The 34-year-old Reyes, who is finishing the club-option year on the contract he signed 15 months ago with the Mets, badly wants to return to the team next season. It’s a proposition to which Mets officials are lukewarm, which at least represents progress from midseason, when Reyes’ career appeared finished.

The fact Reyes entered play with an .852 OPS over his previous 52 games, dating to June 27 — this was before he smashed two homers in the Mets’ 5-1 victory over the Reds — was evidence he still has something left, even as he has dealt with inconsistent playing time and shuffling around the infield. He certainly has made a case for continued employment in the organization into which he was signed as a 16-year-old. He stayed with the Mets until 2011 before departing for the riches of a free-agent contract with the Marlins and returning last year after the Rockies released him following a domestic violence arrest and suspension.

“Did I want to come here? For sure,” Reyes said. “Do I want to finish my career here? One hundred percent.

“At this point I just want to be here because it’s home for me and this is where I feel comfortable playing, but I don’t have that in my hands.”

Reyes’ future may hinge upon how the Mets proceed with Asdrubal Cabrera, on whom the club holds an $8.5 million option for 2018. If that option is picked up — the contract has a $2 million buyout — it could eliminate Reyes from consideration for a job on a team that already has infielders Wilmer Flores and T.J. Rivera under club control for next season with Rosario entrenched at shortstop.

Working in Cabrera’s favor is the fact he can play third base, where the Mets have a hole, and neither Flores nor Rivera looked comfortable at the position before suffering season-ending injuries. Reyes also scuffled at third base before returning to the middle infield.

Of course, if the Mets were to acquire a third baseman in the offseason, the equation could change and tilt toward Reyes’ favor, given he would be a lower-cost option than Cabrera, who has battled injuries this season and slumped at the plate after helping spearhead the Mets’ NL wild-card run last season.

In the Mets’ clubhouse, there might not be a more popular player than Reyes.

“I’ve been a huge Jose Reyes fan forever because he loves to play,” manager Terry Collins said. “And I like guys who want to play and like to play, and Jose — unless there’s an injury — he wants to play every day. He loves it.

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“I think his presence in that clubhouse, obviously he has a lot to say to the Latin guys because it’s easy for him, plus who he is, they know — they’ve been told — and certainly he’s been an idol to many of them so he’s got a lot to say about those guys.”

Reyes’ legs remain healthy and have allowed him to perform at a high level in the second half. Remember, just a few days before the calendar turned to July, he was stuck with a .589 OPS and facing a possible pink slip.

“I know that I started the season horrible, but after a little while, I feel I have been playing pretty good baseball,” Reyes said. “I wish that I could come back next year for this team.”

His mentorship of Rosario, the organization’s stud 21-year-old top prospect, can only help his cause. But ultimately, it could turn into a numbers game in which team officials have to decide between Cabrera and Reyes.